Communicating health status when a management console is unavailable

ABSTRACT

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for communicating health status when a management console is unavailable for a server in a mirror storage environment. A determination at a first server is made that a management console is unavailable over the console network. The first server determines a health status at the first server and the first storage in response to determining that the management console cannot be reached over the console network. The health status indicates whether there are errors or no errors at the first server and the first storage. The first server transmits the determined health status to the second server over a mirroring network mirroring data between the first storage and a second storage managed by the second server. The determined health status is forwarded to an administrator.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a computer program product, system, andmethod for communicating health status when a management console isunavailable for a server in a mirror storage environment.

2. Description of the Related Art

In a storage environment, primary and secondary storage servers maymaintain mirror copy relationships, where a primary volume in a mirrorcopy relationship comprises the storage or volumes from which data isphysically copied to a secondary volume. A server and storage involvedin the mirror copy relationships may be implemented in a storage system,such as the International Business Machine Corporation's (“IBM”)DS8000®, which also includes a hardware management console (HMC) that isa dedicated workstation physically located inside the DS8000 storagesystem. The HMC may proactively monitor the state of the storage systemand notify an administrator or a remote monitoring service when serviceand repairs are required. The storage system may further includemultiple server components, or storage facility Central ElectronicComplexes (CECs), and disk enclosures for disk drives implementing thestorage. When the storage systems, such as the DS8000s, are deployed ina mirror storage environment, the data may be mirrored among thestorages implemented in the storage system, which connect over anetwork.

In certain implementations, the HMC may connect to the CECs orprocessing complexes over a dedicated network, which is separate fromthe network used to mirror data between the storage systems.

There is a need in the art for improved techniques for monitoring andreporting the health status in a mirror copying relationship.

SUMMARY

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method forcommunicating health status when a management console is unavailable fora server in a mirror storage environment. A determination at a firstserver is made that a management console is unavailable over the consolenetwork. The first server determines a health status at the first serverand the first storage in response to determining that the managementconsole cannot be reached over the console network. The health statusindicates whether there are errors or no errors at the first server andthe first storage. The first server transmits the determined healthstatus to the second server over a mirroring network mirroring databetween the first storage and a second storage managed by the secondserver. The determined health status is forwarded to an administrator.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a mirror storage environment.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a health status message.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of operations to monitor a managementconsole of a storage system.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of operations to transmit a healthstatus message to a remote server in a mirror storage environment.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of operations for a server to process ahealth status message received from a remote server in the mirrorstorage environment.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a computer architecture used withdescribed embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A management console in a storage system, such as a Hardware ManagementConsole (HMC), may become unavailable because of a failure of themanagement console or the network connecting the management console to astorage system processing facility. In such case, the management consolemay not be able to detect errors in the storage system, such as failuresof a storage device or other component, which are non-disruptive errorsthat do not prevent the storage system from participating in the mirrorstorage environment. However, such non-disruptive errors, if notaddressed, may result in greater problems if another component fails,which in combination with the previous non-disruptive failure, resultsin a catastrophic failure of the storage system. For instance, failureof one hard disk drive in a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID)may not result in data failure because the RAID controller may be ableto reconstruct data using the parity information. However, if the failedhard disk drive is not replaced, then failure of another hard disk drivemay result in multiple disk drives failing, which the RAID controllermay not be able to error correct. In such case, the failure of themanagement console to detect errors or failures not causing the storagesystem to fail may eventually result in a catastrophic failure.

Described embodiments address the above problems by monitoring whetherthe management console is available over a console network separate fromthe network over which data is mirrored. If the management console isunavailable, then a health status at a server and/or a storage managedby the server is determined. The server transmits the determined healthstatus to a remote server involved in mirroring data over a mirroringnetwork used to mirror data among servers. The server receiving thehealth status may then forward the health status to an administrator,such as by forwarding the received health status to a management consolecoupled to the receiving server over a separate management consolenetwork connected to the receiving server.

With the described embodiment, detected errors and component failuresmay be reported over a mirroring network when they cannot becommunicated over a management console network over which they arenormally monitored. This allows errors to be detected, reported andaddressed to avoid further failures, including possible catastrophicfailure.

FIG. 1 illustrates a mirroring storage environment having a first server100 a, second server 100 b, and at least one additional server 100 cthat manage a first storage 102 a, a second storage 102 b, and at leastone additional storage 102 c, respectively. A host (not shown) mayaccess volumes 106 a, 106 ab, and additional volumes (not shown)configured in the first storage 102 a, the second storage 102 b, and theat least one additional storage 102 c. The primary server 100 a, thesecondary server 100 b, and the at least one additional server 100 c maymirror data in their respective storage 102 a, 102 b, 102 c over amirroring network 108.

Each server 100 a, 100 b includes a processor 110 a, 110 b, comprisingone or more processor devices, and a memory 112 a, 112 b. Each memory112 a, 112 b includes a storage manager 114 a, 114 b to manage read andwrite access to the respective storage 102 a, 102 b from a host; a copymanager 116 a, 116 b to mirror data between the servers 100 a, 100 b; ahealth monitor 118 a, 118 b to monitor the health of components in theservers 100 a, 100 b, including the management console 124 a, 124 b, andgenerate a health status message 200 a, 200 b indicating a healthcondition detected by the health monitor 118 a, 118 b with respect tothe server 100 a, 100 b, storage 102 a, 102 b, and management console124 a, 124 b, respectively; a cache 120 a, 120 b to cache read and writedata with respect to the volumes 106 a, 106 b in the respective primary102 a and secondary 102 b storages. The copy managers 116 a, 116 b maygenerate mirror copy relationship information 122 a, 122 b havinginformation on mirror copy relationships of volumes 106 a, 106 b in thefirst storage 102 a and second storage 102 b subject to mirror copyingof data there between, respectively.

Volumes 106 a, 106 b configured in the storages 102 a, 102 b,respectively, may comprise a Logical Unit Number (LUN), LogicalSubsystem (LSS), or any grouping of tracks, where a track may comprise ablock, track or any data unit.

The first server 100 a and second server 100 b each are coupled to amanagement console 124 a, 124 b over separate console networks 126 a,126 b, respectively. The management consoles 124 a, 124 b compriseseparate computer systems with which the servers 100 a and 100 bcommunicate. The servers 100 a, 100 b may provide status information toan administrator operating the management consoles 124 a, 124 b, and theadministrator may configure the servers 100 a, 100 b through therespective management console 124 a, 124 b, such as configure volumes106 a, 106 b and mirror copy relationships 122 a, 122 b.

The management console networks 126 a, 126 b may be implemented inhardware separate from the mirroring network 108. For instance, theservers 100 a, 100 b may include separate adaptor ports to communicatewith hardware and switches implementing the console network 126 a, 126 band the hardware and switches implementing the mirroring network 108.Using different ports, virtual or physical, in the servers 100 a, 100 bto connect to the different mirroring 108 and console 126 a, 26 bnetworks maintains the networks separate from each other.

In certain embodiments, the mirroring network 108 may only be used tocopy data being mirrored as indicated in mirror copy relationships 122a, 122 b while the respective management consoles 124 a, 124 b areavailable over the console networks 126 a, 126 b. Further, the consolenetworks 126 a, 126 b may only be used for communications between theservers 100 a and 100 b and their respective management consoles 124 a,124 b.

In certain embodiments, data in volumes 106 a in the first storage 102 amay be mirrored to volumes 106 b in the second storage 102 b accordingto configured mirror copy relationships 122 a, 122 b. Further, the datamirrored from the first storage 102 a to the second storage 102 b mayfurther be mirrored to at least one additional storage 102 c either fromthe first server 100 a or the second server 100 b upon receiving datamirrored from the first server 100 a. Further, additional servers 100 cmay mirror data from one to the other, and the second server 100 b maymirror data from the second storage 102 b to other of the servers 100 a,100 c. The additional servers 100 c, additional storage 102 c andadditional management consoles 124 a for the additional servers 100 cmay have the same arrangement and components as described with respectto the servers 100 a, 100 b, storages 102 a, 102 b, and managementconsoles 124 a, 124 b. Data may also be mirrored from the second storage102 b and additional storages 102 c to any other storage 102 a, 102 b,102 c.

In one embodiment, the first server 100 a, first storage 102 a, andfirst management console 124 a and the second server 100 b, secondstorage 102 b, and second management console 124 b may be implemented ascomponents in first and second storage system enclosures, respectively,such as the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM®) DS8000®and DS8880 storage systems. Further, in each storage system, there maybe multiple servers, implemented as redundant storage facility CentralElectronic Complexes (CECs), with redundant storage and redundantconnections to the mirroring network 108 and console networks 126 a, 126b. (IBM and DS8000 are trademarks of International Business MachinesCorporation throughout the world).

The mirroring 108 and console networks 126 a, 126 b may comprise aStorage Area Network (SAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), Local Area Network(LAN), the Internet, and Intranet, a wireless network, wired network,etc. Additionally, the networks 108, 126 a, 126 b may be implementedusing other types of bus or network interfaces, including a PeripheralComponent Interconnect Express (PCIe) bus.

The storages 102 a, 102 b, 102 c may comprise different types or classesof storage devices, such as magnetic hard disk drives, solid statestorage device (SSD) comprised of solid state electronics, EEPROM(Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), flash memory,flash disk, Random Access Memory (RAM) drive, storage-class memory(SCM), etc., Phase Change Memory (PCM), resistive random access memory(RRAM), spin transfer torque memory (STM-RAM), conductive bridging RAM(CBRAM), magnetic hard disk drive, optical disk, tape, etc. The volumes106 a, 106 b may further be configured from an array of devices, such asJust a Bunch of Disks (JBOD), Direct Access Storage Device (DASD),Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) array, virtualizationdevice, etc. Further, the storages 102 a, 102 b may compriseheterogeneous storage devices from different vendors and different typesof storage devices, such as a first type of storage devices, e.g., harddisk drives, that have a slower data transfer rate than a second type ofstorage devices, e.g., SSDs.

The components, such as the storage manager 114 a, 114 b, copy manager116 a, 116 b, and health monitor 118 a, 118 b may be implemented incomputer readable program instructions in a computer readable storagemedium executed by a processor and/or computer hardware, such as anApplication Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC).

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a health status message 200 _(i),such as health status messages 200 a, 200 b, generated by the healthmonitor 118 a, 118 b upon detecting a health condition or erroraffecting access to the volumes 106 a, 106 b, and includes: a messageidentifier (ID) 202; a health status 204 indicating there is no problemor indicating the type of error or health condition with respect to theserver 206 components and storage; a server ID 206 indicating the server100 a, 100 b for which the health status 204 is generated; one or morevolumes and/or storage devices 208 impacted by the health condition; aseverity level 210 of the health condition, e.g., minor, acute, severe,etc.; a management console ID 212 of a management console 124 a, 126 bat the server 206; and a management console status 214 indicatingwhether the management console 214 is operational or unavailable.

The health status 204 may indicate a hardware error in the server 206 orstorage 102 a, 102 b managed by the server 206 that may be resolved byfixing or replacing the hardware or storage devices, such as errors inin a device or host adaptor in the server 206, and other software and/orhardware errors, etc. The management console status 214 may indicatehardware or software errors in the identified management console 212 orthe console network 126 a, 126 b over which the management console 212connects to the server 206.

An administrator being notified of the health status message 200 _(i),which may surface at a management console 124 a, 124 b, may then takeappropriate action to replace hardware or fix errors at the server 206,the storage 102 a, 102 b and/or the management console 212 based on thehealth status 204 and management console status 214. The health status204 may indicate that there is no problem with the health of the server206 and the managed volumes 208, but the management console status 214may indicate an error or problem with the management console 212, suchas that it is unavailable. Still further, the health status 204 mayindicate an error with the server 206 and managed volumes 208 and themanagement console status 214 may indicate unavailability of themanagement console 212, indicating both need to be fixed or repaired.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of operations performed by the healthmonitor 118 a, 118 b or other component in the server 100 a, 100 b togenerate a health status message 200 a, 200 b. The local server 100 a,100 b in which the health monitor 118 a, 188 b is operating may comprisea primary server mirroring data to the secondary server, or may be thesecondary server receiving data to store at the secondary site. Upon thehealth monitor 118 a, 118 b periodically (at block 300) initiatingmonitoring of the management console 124 a, 124 b, a heartbeat signal issent (at block 302) to the connected management console 124 a, 124 bover the console network 126 a, 126 b. If (at block 304) a response tothe heartbeat signal is not received within a predetermined time period,then the health monitor 118 a, 118 b determines (at block 306) a healthstatus at the local server 100 a, 100 b and local storage 102 a, 102 b,including any software or hardware errors in the volumes 106 a, 106 b orstorage devices of the local storage 102 a, 102 b, where an error maycomprise a partial or total failure of a component or programoperations. The health monitor 118 a, 118 b generates (at block 308) ahealth status message 200 a, 200 b indicating the local serveridentifier 206, any determined errors in the local server in healthstatus field 204, any errors in the local storage (e.g., failed volumesand storage devices) in field 208, a severity level 210 of any errors, amanagement console identifier 212 of the non-responsive managementconsole 124 a, 124 b, and that the management 212 console is unavailablein the management console status field 214. The health status message200 a, 200 b is transmitted (at block 310) over the mirroring network100 to a connected remote server 100 b, 100 a to surface the healthstatus to an administrator.

If (at block 304) the heartbeat signal is received, then control endsbecause any errors or problems with any components at the local server100 a, 100 b or local storage 102 a, 102 b would surface at theconnected management console 124 a, 124 b.

With the described embodiment of operations of FIG. 3, the mirroringnetwork 108, which is otherwise exclusively used for data mirroringoperations, is used to transmit health status information when one ofthe servers 100 a, 100 b cannot communicate with the connectedmanagement console 124 a, 124 b. This allows any problems or errors tosurface at another console or device operated by the administrator sothat the administrator is made aware of the problems and can fix orreplace any failed parts to avoid future problems which could becatastrophic. For instance, a failure of a storage device in the storage102 a, 102 b may not currently effect operations at the storage 102 a,102 b if error recovery methods, such as Redundant Array of IndependentDisk (RAID) and error correction codes (ECC), are able to recover dataon the failed storage device. However, it is important to alert theadministrator of such errors immediately to replace or fix the failedstorage device because failure of an additional storage device at thestorage 102 a, 102 b may prevent data from being recovered.

In certain embodiments, to transmit the health status message 200 a, 200b when there are additional servers 100 c and storages 102 c in themirror storage environment, the health monitor 118 a, 118 b maybroadcast the generated health status message 200 a, 200 b to all remoteservers 100 b, 100 a, 100 c in the environment as a broadcast message.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of operations performed by the healthmonitor 118 a, 118 b to transmit the health status message 200 a, 200 bwhen there are multiple remote servers 100 a, 100 b and 100 c in thestorage environment to which the local server 100 a, 100 b may transmithealth status. Upon initiating (at block 400) an operation to transmitthe health status message 200 a, 200 b to additional servers 100 b, 100b, 100 c in the mirror storage environment, the health monitor 118 a,118 b determines (at block 402) whether there are available paths tomultiple remote servers 100 b, 100 a and 100 c in the mirroring network108 among which data is mirrored. The health monitor 118 a, 118 bselects (at block 404) one of the remote servers 100 b, 100 a, 100 c forwhich there is an available path in the mirroring network 108. Thehealth monitor 118 a, 118 b then transmits (at block 406) the healthstatus message 200 a, 200 b to the selected remote server over themirroring network 108 used to mirror data to the remove server.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of operations performed by a healthmonitor 118 a, 118 b or other component at a server receiving a healthstatus message 200 a, 200 b. Upon a server 100 a, 100 b, 100 c referredto as the local server, receiving (at block 500) a health status message200 _(i) from a remote server, i.e., the server 100 a, 100 b, 100 csending the health status message 200 _(i) over the mirroring network108, the health monitor 118 a, 118 b determines (at block 502) whetherthe local management console 124 a, 124 b is available over the localconsole network 126 a, 126 b. If so, then the health monitor 118 a, 118b transmits (at block 504) the health status message 200 _(i) to thelocal management console 124 a, 124 b to surface to an administrator totake action to fix or repair any problems with the server 100 a, 100 b,100 c, or connected storage 102 a, 102 b, 102 c resulting in the healthstatus message 200 _(i), and the unavailable management console 212.

If (at block 502) the local management console 124 a, 124 b is notavailable, then a determination is made (at block 506) whether anadditional server 100 c in the mirroring network 108 is available. Ifso, then the health monitor 118 a, 118 b transmits (at block 508) thehealth status message 200 _(i) to the at least one additional server 100c available in the mirroring network 108. Otherwise, if an additionalserver 100 c is not available to surface the error message, includingunavailability of a management console 124 a, 124 b, 124 c, then aninternal error message or notification at the local server is generated,to provide at an output device at the local server or to output toanother location.

In described embodiments, the health status message 200 _(i) is sent toanother server 100 a, 100 b, 100 c in the mirror network 108 to surfaceat a management console at another server. Alternatively, the healthstatus message may be transmitted through a third channel, such as aseparate network, independent of the mirroring 108 and console networks126 a, 126 b, to a remote system to provide to the administrator.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like,and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The computational components of FIG. 1, including the servers 100 a, 100b, 100 c and management consoles 124 a, 124 n, 124 c may be implementedin one or more computer systems, such as the computer system 602 shownin FIG. 6. Computer system/server 602 may be described in the generalcontext of computer system executable instructions, such as programmodules, being executed by a computer system. Generally, program modulesmay include routines, programs, objects, components, logic, datastructures, and so on that perform particular tasks or implementparticular abstract data types. Computer system/server 602 may bepracticed in distributed cloud computing environments where tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed cloud computing environment,program modules may be located in both local and remote computer systemstorage media including memory storage devices.

As shown in FIG. 6, the computer system/server 602 is shown in the formof a general-purpose computing device. The components of computersystem/server 602 may include, but are not limited to, one or moreprocessors or processing units 604, a system memory 606, and a bus 608that couples various system components including system memory 606 toprocessor 604. Bus 608 represents one or more of any of several types ofbus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, aperipheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or localbus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, andnot limitation, such architectures include Industry StandardArchitecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, EnhancedISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) localbus, and Peripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus.

Computer system/server 602 typically includes a variety of computersystem readable media. Such media may be any available media that isaccessible by computer system/server 602, and it includes both volatileand non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.

System memory 606 can include computer system readable media in the formof volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 610 and/or cachememory 612. Computer system/server 602 may further include otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storagemedia. By way of example only, storage system 613 can be provided forreading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media(not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, amagnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable,non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical diskdrive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile opticaldisk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided.In such instances, each can be connected to bus 608 by one or more datamedia interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below,memory 606 may include at least one program product having a set (e.g.,at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry out thefunctions of embodiments of the invention.

Program/utility 614, having a set (at least one) of program modules 616,may be stored in memory 606 by way of example, and not limitation, aswell as an operating system, one or more application programs, otherprogram modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one ormore application programs, other program modules, and program data orsome combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networkingenvironment. The components of the computer 602 may be implemented asprogram modules 616 which generally carry out the functions and/ormethodologies of embodiments of the invention as described herein. Thesystems of FIG. 1 may be implemented in one or more computer systems602, where if they are implemented in multiple computer systems 602,then the computer systems may communicate over a network.

Computer system/server 602 may also communicate with one or moreexternal devices 618 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display620, etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact withcomputer system/server 602; and/or any devices (e.g., network card,modem, etc.) that enable computer system/server 602 to communicate withone or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur viaInput/Output (I/O) interfaces 622. Still yet, computer system/server 602can communicate with one or more networks such as a local area network(LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g.,the Internet) via network adapter 624. As depicted, network adapter 624communicates with the other components of computer system/server 602 viabus 608. It should be understood that although not shown, other hardwareand/or software components could be used in conjunction with computersystem/server 602. Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode,device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays,RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.

The terms “an embodiment”, “embodiment”, “embodiments”, “theembodiment”, “the embodiments”, “one or more embodiments”, “someembodiments”, and “one embodiment” mean “one or more (but not all)embodiments of the present invention(s)” unless expressly specifiedotherwise.

The terms “including”, “comprising”, “having” and variations thereofmean “including but not limited to”, unless expressly specifiedotherwise.

The enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all of theitems are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The terms “a”, “an” and “the” mean “one or more”, unless expresslyspecified otherwise.

Devices that are in communication with each other need not be incontinuous communication with each other, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. In addition, devices that are in communication with eachother may communicate directly or indirectly through one or moreintermediaries.

A description of an embodiment with several components in communicationwith each other does not imply that all such components are required. Onthe contrary a variety of optional components are described toillustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the presentinvention.

When a single device or article is described herein, it will be readilyapparent that more than one device/article (whether or not theycooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article. Similarly,where more than one device or article is described herein (whether ornot they cooperate), it will be readily apparent that a singledevice/article may be used in place of the more than one device orarticle or a different number of devices/articles may be used instead ofthe shown number of devices or programs. The functionality and/or thefeatures of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more otherdevices which are not explicitly described as having suchfunctionality/features. Thus, other embodiments of the present inventionneed not include the device itself.

The foregoing description of various embodiments of the invention hasbeen presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It isnot intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the preciseform disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in lightof the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention belimited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claimsappended hereto. The above specification, examples and data provide acomplete description of the manufacture and use of the composition ofthe invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, theinvention resides in the claims herein after appended.

1-24. (canceled)
 25. A computer program product for monitoring healthstatus of components in a storage managed by a first server connected toa second server over a first network, wherein a management console isconnected to the first server over a second network, the computerprogram product comprising a computer readable storage medium havingcomputer readable program code embodied therein that is executable toperform operations, the operations comprising: transmitting a signalover the second network to the management console; determining a healthstatus at the first server and storage of the first server in responseto not receiving a response to the signal, wherein the health statusindicates whether there are errors or no errors at least one of hardwareand software at the first server and the storage of the first server;and transmitting the health status to the second server over the firstnetwork.
 26. The computer program product of claim 25, wherein themanagement console comprises a first management console, wherein asecond management console is connected to the second server over a thirdnetwork, wherein the operations further comprise: transmitting thehealth status over the third network to the second management console toprovide to an administrator.
 27. The computer program product of claim25, wherein the operations further comprise: transmitting the healthstatus over the first network to a third server.
 28. The computerprogram product of claim 27, wherein the operations further comprise:determining available paths in the first network to a plurality ofadditional servers; and selecting one of the additional servers as thethird server to which the health status is transmitted.
 29. The computerprogram product of claim 25, wherein the transmitting the health statusto the second server, comprises: broadcasting, over the first network,the health status to at least one additional server, wherein the atleast one additional server transmits the health status over anadditional console network to an additional management console.
 30. Thecomputer program product of claim 25, wherein the management consoleconnected over the second network to the first server comprises a firstmanagement console, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving,by the second server, the transmitted health status; and transmitting,by the second server, the health status to a second management consoleover a third network.
 31. The computer program product of claim 30,wherein the operations further comprise: determining, at the secondserver, whether the second management console is avoidable over thethird network, wherein the health status is transmitted to the secondmanagement console in response to determining that the second managementconsole is available over the third network; and transmitting the healthstatus to at least one additional server available in the first network.32. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the first networkis only used for mirroring data between the first server and the secondserver while the management console is available over the secondnetwork, and wherein the second network is only used for communicationbetween the first server and the management console while the managementconsole is available.
 33. A network environment, comprising a firstserver managing access to a first storage; a second server managingaccess to a second storage; a first network communicating data betweenthe first storage and the second server; a management console; a secondnetwork connecting the management console to the first server; acomputer readable storage medium having computer readable program codeembodied therein that when executed performs operations, the operationscomprising: transmitting a signal over the second network to themanagement console; determining a health status at the first server andstorage of the first server in response to not receiving a response tothe signal, wherein the health status indicates whether there are errorsor no errors at least one of hardware and software at the first serverand the storage of the first server; and transmitting the health statusto the second server over the first network.
 34. The network environmentof claim 33, wherein the management console comprises a first managementconsole, wherein a second management console is connected to the secondserver over a third network, wherein the operations further comprise:transmitting the health status over the third network to the secondmanagement console to provide to an administrator.
 35. The networkenvironment of claim 33, wherein the operations further comprise:transmitting the health status over the first network to a third server.36. The network environment of claim 35, wherein the operations furthercomprise: determining available paths in the first network to aplurality of additional servers; and selecting one of the additionalservers as the third server to which the health status is transmitted.37. The network environment of claim 33, wherein the transmitting thehealth status to the second server, comprises: broadcasting, over thefirst network, the health status to at least one additional server,wherein the at least one additional server transmits the health statusover an additional console network to an additional management console.38. The network environment of claim 33, wherein the management consoleconnected over the second network to the first server comprises a firstmanagement console, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving,by the second server, the transmitted health status; and transmitting,by the second server, the health status to a second management consoleover a third network.
 39. The network environment of claim 38, whereinthe operations further comprise: determining, at the second server,whether the second management console is available over the thirdnetwork, wherein the health status is transmitted to the secondmanagement console in response to determining that the second managementconsole is available over the third network; and transmitting the healthstatus to at least one additional server available in the first network.40. The network environment of claim 33, wherein the first network isonly used for mirroring data between the first server and the secondserver while the management console is available over the secondnetwork, and wherein the second network is only used for communicationbetween the first server and the management console while the managementconsole is available.
 41. A method for monitoring health status in anetwork environment, comprising: transmitting a signal over the secondnetwork to the management console; determining a health status at thefirst server and storage of the first server in response to notreceiving a response to the signal, wherein the health status indicateswhether there are errors or no errors at least one of hardware andsoftware at the first server and the storage of the first server; andtransmitting the health status to the second server over the firstnetwork.
 42. The method of claim 41, wherein the management consolecomprises a first management console, wherein a second managementconsole is connected to the second server over a third network, whereinthe operations further comprise: transmitting the health status over thethird network to the second management console to provide to anadministrator.
 43. The method of claim 41, further comprising:transmitting the health status over the first network to a third server.44. The method of claim 41, wherein the management console connectedover the second network to the first server comprises a first managementconsole, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving, by thesecond server, the transmitted health status; and transmitting, by thesecond server, the health status to a second management console over athird network.